From DSC: As I mentioned the other day…perhaps helping folks build their own learning ecosystems — based upon one’s gifts/abilities/passions — should be an objective for teachers, professors, instructional designers, trainers, and consultants alike. No matter whether we’re talking K-12, higher ed, or corporate training, these ever-changing networks/tools/strategies will help keep us marketable and able to contribute in a variety of areas to society.

Six years ago few people believed that informal learning made much of a difference. Today’s common wisdom is that most workplace learning is experiential, unplanned, social, and informal.

Informal learning tops many training department agendas. Companies are attracted by the low price tag. However, few of them are doing much systematically. They’ve converted a few programs but they’ve failed to improve their learning ecosystems.

We’ve shifted how we think about learning since the Informal Learning book came out. It’s a new ball game and we need to play by new rules. Consider what’s changed…

From DSC:If this is the case, what could/should that mean for those of us working within higher education?

* 33% of organizations reported they are SHRINKING the use of face-to-face classrooms.
* Greatest planned growth in learning activity mode is in the use of Webinars.
* Strongest interest in change and updates was in Leadership Development.
* While 40% show a strong interest in Social Learning – only 20.1% plan a growing utilization with a strong piloting base.
* Mobile and Tablet Device use for Learning is being piloted by 30.1%

If an organization doesn’t respond to changing conditions, needs, desires, preferences, best interests, and/or the requirements of its customers, that organization will diminish in usefulness and will most likely (albeit eventually) go out of business.

I know I’m not introducing a new thought here and the above statement seems very self-evident, but do we heed this advice in corporate L&D? Corporate IT? IT within higher education? In higher education as an industry?

Another reason you might back away from instruction as a strategy is because it is more efficient to provide how-to materials at the point-of-need – it isn’t learning that’s required, it’s performance support:

Doug Lynch, Dr. Stanton Wortham, and Elliott Masie for recording these videos and for sharing their insights/expertise

The University of Pennsylvania for making these items available

Capella University for including the above resource in a course that I’m currently taking from Dr. Katherine Emmons entitled, “Learning Theory and the Educational Process.”

2/8/11:
Note/correction from my original posting:
Doug Lynch and Stanton Wortham are not at Penn State, but rather they are at the University of Pennsylvania; Elliot Masie is an Adjunct Faculty Member at the University of Pennsylvania.

This summer I attended the 2010 Distance Teaching and Learning Conference in Madison, Wisconsin. Some very interesting topics came up in the facilitated Think Tanks, and I wanted to share some of the predictions that were developed from these active group discussions regarding where eLearning will go in the next ten years.

…

Below you will find a table that summarizes the different opportunities and challenges that were predicted to arise in the next ten years by the participants in the conference Think Tanks and by [Jon Aleckson].

Opportunities

Challenges

Learner

Bridging informal and formal education

Movement between schools to obtain courses needed for custom degrees

Increase in shared knowledge among students and learners

Networking and learning from each other

Resumes will include informal and formal learning experiences acquired via the Internet

Developing standards to gauge education and competency from multiple sources

Providing an authoritative, reliable source for information (e.g. not just Wikipedia)

Physical and psychological distance from other learners and instructors.

Quality measures for informal and formal professional development attained on the Internet.

K-12 Instruction

Reducing barriers to funding, certification, credit and accreditation

Increase access to quality education for all students

Open “course” concept to new blends of delivery and teaching

Providing for more game-based learning experiences and techniques for a variety of learning styles

Using new technology in the classroom

Defining online and blended education

Development of technical infrastructure, internet access and equipment

Maintaining the custodial function of school

Acquiring funding for bold Internet delivered experiences for the classroom